A Storyteller's Game
by MIMS4
Summary: Six cosplayers, each strangers from different fandoms, get trapped at SmileCon and have to figure out how to get out. As this happens, they must also face other problems like rivalries, obsessions, and incompatibility. Includes: Axis Powers Hetalia, Beyond the Boundary/Kyoukai no Kanata, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Homestuck, VOCALOID, and many more!
1. Chapter 0: BLINDING WHITE

"Yuzu." Reaching up, a girl wearing a short, peach-colored wig tapped the shoulder of a boy with a short, black wig. When he turned around, the girl looked straight into his eyes, both masked by green contacts. "You have another fan over on my side." She was about a head shorter than the boy, Yuzu, who also wore a black-and-red striped scarf and school uniform. Her curly wig matched the color of the sweater she wore on top of a blue school uniform similar to Yuzu's. She didn't like contacts, but her surprisingly natural pink and purple eyes were always mistaken for them. Thick, red spectacles without actual lenses framed those eyes, and at first glance, it was hard to tell whether the eyes or the glasses caught attention first. In the morning rush, her wig was knocked off-center, so her jet black hair peeked out from the bangs. She hadn't had the time to fix it yet.

"Thanks, Yaya." Yuzu adjusted his own wig momentarily before giving the girl a pat on the head.

"I told you, call me Ayaka or Aya." Ayaka gently pushed Yuzu's hand away. "Yaya is specifically for my fans."

"But I am a fan," Yuzu said jokingly. "I love your art."

"You're not exactly the same, you know," Ayaka crossed her arms. "Anyway, the girl would like an autograph from you, so don't forget the marker." She made her way back through a propped up wall printed with the convention logo behind Yuzu. This was the only direct way between the Artist Alley and the Cosplay Corridor.

Following suit, Yuzu grabbed the black, permanent marker on his fold up table and made his way to the other side. Comparable to the flashing cameras of the Cosplay Corridor, the Artist Alley was filled with fans of all ages carrying bags of every size. Ayaka stood waiting, making small talk with the fan she was probably talking about.

"There he is." Ayaka motioned Yuzu over.

When he made his way towards them, the fan, a young girl, lit up. "Can I, uh, have your autograph, Yuyu?" She quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment, "I mean! Yuzu..." The girl nervously held out a board with both hands.

"Yuyu?" Yuzu tilted his head, smiling. "What a cute nickname, thanks." He accepted the board and uncapped the permanent marker. In capitalized letters, he wrote out his name, then signed an asterisk at the end. He handed the autographed board back to the girl, who beamed and carefully placed the board back into her large bag. The logo on the bag told YUZU* that she had recently purchased from PlushNote, a famous doll-making group specializing in VOCALOID goods.

"And, uhm," a silver camera peeked out from the bag, "Picture…?"

"Why not?" YUZU* began patting down his cosplay to get rid of strange wrinkles and folds. He then proceeded to comb his wig slightly with his fingers and patted the top of it.

"Sorry, I'm kinda in the way here." Ayaka stepped over to the side of the booth.

The fan stopped her. "Oh, uhm! I want a picture of you, too, Ayaya!" Her tone changed as she followed up with, "Is that ok?" The camera between her two hands waited in anticipation.

Ayaka put her finger to her chin as if in mock thought. "Only if you know what characters we're cosplaying as!" Walking over to the left side of her booth, she picked up the red sword she had ignored until then. Another hint for who they were cosplaying, or preparation for the photo.

"Easy!" The girl grinned as Ayaka brought the sword over. Pointing to Ayaka, she said, "Kuriyama Mirai, from Beyond the Boundary!" Then, to YUZU*, she said, "Nase Hiroomi. Also from Beyond the Boundary."

"Ding ding!" Ayaka mimicked a ringing bell. "Correct!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the fan eagerly held the camera up.

YUZU* leaned his head towards Ayaka slightly, keeping his eyes on the camera. "Can I call you Ayaya?" he whispered to her as the fan turned on the device and set it up.

"No," she hissed back. "Fans only."

Positioned at the perfect angle, the fan called out, "Ready?"

"Ready!" YUZU* and Ayaka leaned closer, backs facing each other, posing in a way they believed their character would. Ayaka pointed the sword at the camera, in hopes it would create an interesting blurry effect and show depth. YUZU* averted his eyes from the camera and, using two fingers, held a small portion of the scarf to cover his mouth.

A flash of bright light and a shutter sound, the fan was satisfied how well the photo turned out. She shyly thanked the both of them for their time.

"And that will be fifteen dollars." Ayaka held out her open palm to the young girl.

"Eh?" The fan looked at Ayaka with utter confusion.

YUZU* did the same. _When did we start charging for pictures?_

After shaking her head slightly, as if to shake off the momentary hesitation, the young girl reached into her bag to pull out a teal-colored wallet printed with the white outline of a girl in a school uniform. _Hatsune Miku._ YUZU* recognized the twintailed singer. _The girl is really decked out in VOCALOID stuff._

Ayaka smiled and withdrew her hand. "I was kidding. Good joke, right?" YUZU* and the fan were even more confused. "Sorry," Ayaka apologized. "Here, take this. I shouldn't have joked like that." Seeing the girl was armed with VOCALOID goods, Ayaka gave her a print of her art with one of the virtual singers on it. _Wait, why did she give her KAITO?_ YUZU* gestured to Ayaka that the girl would probably prefer one of Miku, but failed to get the message across since Ayaka directed her attention to the girl overflowing with joy.

"Thank you!" She grinned, putting both her wallet and new poster into the PlushNote bag. When everything was in, she waved to YUZU* and Ayaka. "Bye! Hope to see you again next year!" They both waved back at her, watching her slowly merge with the bustling crowd.

"Next year," YUZU* said, slowly lowering his hand.

"Don't think that much ahead yet," Ayaka patted him on the back. "That's too far into the future to worry about. Think about right now and enjoy this time." Picking up the marker left behind on the table, she tossed it to YUZU*, who barely caught it in time. "Make sure no one's at your booth, then go pick up some lunch for us, ok?" She added, "Tuna salad, please."

"Anything else?" YUZU* headed over to the propped wall, ready to pass through.

"Hmm." Ayaka thought for a moment. "Perhaps some kind of tea to drink?"

"Got it." Smirking, YUZU* added playfully, "Since you didn't mention any specifics, I guess the bitter kind will work." He stepped through the opening. "You should try it. It's good for you."

"You better not!" Ayaka laughed. She knew he wouldn't, considering the number of times he'd bought them tea. Ayaka requested the sweet, fruity kind every time. The bitter ones were her absolute least favorite kind, even if they were healthy.

Back at his booth, YUZU* looked around, seeing no one waiting. Some of the other cosplayers nearby had abandoned their station for the time being. _Everyone's probably getting ready to eat,_ YUZU* thought. He dropped off the marker and snatched his wallet from his blue jacket.

Heading out of the Cosplay Corridor, he walked across the large center hall to the opposite side, where food of all kinds was being served. Third from the entrance was the sandwich bar, unsurprisingly and uncreatively named _Sandwich Deli_. YUZU* ordered Ayaka's sandwich, two in case she was incredibly hungry, and checked out the other options for his own lunch.

_I'm not really in the mood for a sandwich, though._ None of the menu items appealed to him.

The cashier motioned him over, then told him he would have to wait ten minutes for the sandwich because they were out of tuna until the next batch came. YUZU* shrugged and agreed to wait. He wandered around the food court, trying to decide what he would get instead.

When he reached a hamburger joint, he heard distant cheering. YUZU* couldn't make it out very well, but it sounded like a competition. Mixing in the occasional sound of a car's engine and gunfire, he guessed it was a gaming competition. Or something much worse, but YUZU* decided that was probably not it. He tracked down the direction the noise was coming from and decided to see what was up. After all, he had some time before the tuna came.

As the cheering grew louder, the amount of people in the halls decreased until YUZU* realized he was walking through an empty hallway. He couldn't even hear the sound anymore. Confused, YUZU* made his way backwards to ask the first person he came across if they knew where the competition was being held.

In sheer luck, the first person he bumped into was one of the convention staff, a lady with blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she carried a clipboard and pen. _Very official-looking,_ YUZU* thought. Then he noticed she was wearing a button. _Isn't that Shindou Ayaka?_ YUZU* came close enough to identify the character on the pin, which was surprisingly from Beyond the Boundary. _She must be pretty updated on her anime._

"Can I help you?" the woman asked. YUZU* looked away from the button and to the staff member.

"Uhm, no." YUZU* quickly correct himself, "I mean, yes! Do you know if there's a video game competition going on near here? I heard there was one." He actually didn't, but saying he heard car engines and gunshots that reminded him of video games wasn't exactly what he wanted to do.

The lady checked her clipboard, peeling the first page from the second for more information. "It seems there is," she finally said, after landing on the sixth page. "But you're heading the wrong way. If you turn around and head forward, you'll eventually come to a door and the competition's being held there." The pages settled back onto the clipboard when she let go of them.

"Thank you." YUZU* instinctively bowed, then turned around, back the direction he came. _So it _was_ this way,_ he thought to himself.

The hallway curved slightly, preventing him from knowing how far the door was. Eventually, YUZU* came across a dead end, and at the center was the door the lady described. The cheers and arcade noises were very distinct now, drawing YUZU* in. He knew he only had a few minutes, but just a peek would be ok.

YUZU* grabbed the long handle of the wooden door and gently opened it, careful not to disturb the gamers inside. _They probably won't notice, though._ Bright, white light quickly flowed out, momentarily blinding YUZU*. Thinking it was just the bright arcade lights, he stepped in, wishing his eyes would adjust to the change faster. Before he could realize the light wasn't fading away, YUZU*'s eyes were shut tight by some outside force and he, himself, fell unconscious.

The door closed with a slam, echoing through the empty halls.

* * *

_YUZU* here again. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ_  
_It's been a year since my last SmileCon. Glad to be back._  
_Was it always this chilly? I know it's winter but we're pretty far down._  
_Glad this year's cosplay is a winter school uniform. Bonus, it comes with a scarf._  
_If you didn't already know, Journalさん, for Friday, I'm Nase Hiroomi and ayaka's Kuriyama Mirai._  
_We debated about who we should be for KnK for a while, since ayaka liked Mirai and I liked Hiroomi._  
_Cosplay for the ship or who you like? It went on for a while..._  
_But in the end, we decided it's better to go as who you want to be._  
_And that's the point of cosplaying, isn't it?_  
_I've improved on sewing, so this year's outfits are fancier than the last.（笑）_  
_ayaka also improved. The art I never thought could get better did. I can't explain how, but it just draws you in more now. (￣▽￣)_  
_Her art pays off both her booth and my own. I should really start selling photo albums. Can't let ayaka do everything._  
_Would people even buy it? σ(^_^;)_  
_I'll just have to make it look appealing enough. ayaka could help with the illustrations..._  
_No, I can't ask for ayaka's help this time. She's been selling her art alone, so I should too._  
_Well, I guess I helped her by showing her a good printing place...（・v・；）_  
_No, no, no, all alone. That's that._  
_I don't even know why I keep typing up a journal entry every day._  
_ayaka told me it would help. Help what? I forgot if she told me._  
_I hope this year, something exciting happens. I've been to so many conventions, I'm worried I'm not excited anymore._  
_Maybe I need to take a break sometime and check out some panels or something._  
_I wonder if ayaka would like that._


	2. Chapter 0: (Alternate) World Series

"Wait up, you guys. My wig is falling off again," said Liza Mortimer in a practiced British accent.

Liza's three best friends, Hollie, Karen, and Janetta, stood in their respective military uniforms and waited while Liza re-situated the spiky blond wig on her head. She'd dedicated days of work to this handmade Arthur Kirkland cosplay, also known as England, of the Hetalia fandom. Many hours had been spent scouring the web for the perfect reference pictures, picking out the exact shade of green fabric, stitching pieces together and picking them apart and stitching them back together again. It was a lot of work, but this was Liza's first anime convention, and she was determined to get it right. And now the _wig_ was giving her trouble?

"It's 'cause you have so much hair," her friend Hollie, dressed as the personification of America, pointed out helpfully. She kept glancing at the immense room behind her, the Artist's Alley, with poorly disguised impatience. Rows upon rows of booths stretched out from wall to wall, displaying posters, buttons, plushies, and all kinds of other amazing items which Liza probably couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Says you! No way am I going to cut all my hair off just so it can fit into a wig. Don't be a stupid America." Liza finished straightening her wig and ran up to join them, unable to keep herself from smiling. "Have some patience! I want to get going, too, but I have to put up with this ridiculous wig. I can't… Oh, wow! Look at all these people!"

All around them, cosplayers swarmed through the aisles as if they had found their one true home. Liza's eyes skipped from one brightly colored costume to the next. Most of these characters were ones she'd never even heard of, but some she recognized. Each one made her want to squee a little more. Her fingers tightened on the strap of her camera, wrapped securely around her wrist. She'd _have_ to get photos of everyone.

"Look, it's Miku!" Karen, who was dressed as Japan, pointed at a girl with long teal twintails. "Liza, can I borrow your camera?"

Liza clutched the camera to her chest, staring at her friend in mock horror. "Bloody hell, you can't be serious!"

Karen pouted. "But…Miku!"

"But…my camera!" Liza's camera was her most precious and beloved possession. To ask to touch it would be like asking to vandalize the creation that had led the four of them here, the anime that they adored with an undying and sometimes frightening devotion. To others, their dedication to this anime appeared almost bizarrely religious. But those were the people who did not understand.

Oh, the things they didn't understand. Those people, the outsiders, known to some by the grim title of "the normal ones", would never understand what it felt like to give yourself over completely to another world, to be inescapably, deliciously _obsessed_. Liza had had obsessions before, but nothing else had ever even come close to the scale of how she felt about this one special fandom: _Hetalia_. Although she had at first rejected the off-the-wall humor and overall weirdness of this anime that depicted the countries of the world as people, it had quickly grown on her. Ever since that day a few months ago in sophomore history class, when she'd accidentally referred to Germany as "he", she'd known it was a done deal. There was no going back. Hetalia had taken over her life.

And she loved it.

Within a few days of discovering Hetalia, Liza and her friends had begun working out which of them corresponded to which countries. Hollie would be crazy, outgoing America. Karen could be no one but the calm and polite Japan. Janetta at first identified loosely with China, but soon decided to be carefree Italy instead. As for Liza, there was never any question about who she was going to be. Everything about England matched her personality perfectly.

Or at least, she wanted it to…

Sitting in front of the computer practicing her British accent. Learning to duck her head away and deny things in just the right voice, until she had being tsundere down to a fine art. True, her mom did think she'd gone a little overboard after that one time when Liza nearly burned down the kitchen trying to make the perfect disgusting scones. (She didn't _mean_ to set the oven on fire. Only scorch it a little.) But in the end, it was all worth it. Every last second of it. Anything, as long as Liza could escape from the kind of person she'd been before.

To their left, a large group of cosplayers sporting gray skin and bright orange horns passed by. "Look," Liza said, elbowing her friends, "they're _Homestucks_." Everyone knew that Homestucks and Hetalians were the ultimate rivals. At least, according to that thing she saw on the internet that one time.

"_Miku._" Karen poked Liza's shoulder.

"Look!" Janetta tapped Liza's other shoulder urgently. "It's that France cosplayer you saw before."

"Oh my gosh!" Already opening her camera like a tiger (or a fangirl) ready to pounce, Liza wildly scanned the mishmash of anime characters. "Where?"

"Over there!" Janetta pointed, and then Liza saw him. That face, exactly the way she had always imagined he'd look in real life. That perfectly drawn-on stubble. That amazing (handmade?) cosplay that was perfect in every way. Before, she had known as soon as she laid eyes upon him that this was the one. This was the France cosplayer she had been waiting all her fangirlhood to snap a photo of, or—dare she imagine—roleplay with.

Then with a swoosh of his fabulous blond wig, he had disappeared into the crowd.

Now Liza locked on to him again with the unyielding determination only a fangirl can possess. And this time, she wasn't going to let him go.

She was already starting toward him through the crowd. "Okay, I'll see you guys later."

"Wait! The panel starts in ten minutes," Karen protested, but Liza cut her off.

"I'll meet you there. First, I've got to get this picture!" Those were the last words Liza's friends heard from her, nearly lost in the din of five thousand multicolored otakus as she slipped away into the crowd.

Liza's heart raced as she made her way toward the cosplayer of her dreams. All the epic shipping photos she had ever imagined flashed through her head (which was really saying something, because there were a lot of them), each one now made complete with the nameless France cosplayer's face. This was the reason Liza had no interest in a normal boyfriend. Never mind that she probably wouldn't ever see this person again, or even learn his name—it was enough just knowing such a perfect photo subject existed.

She elbowed past scores of people, hardly even hearing her own "sorry"s and "pardon"s dropping from her mouth. Even the excitement of participating in her first Hetalia panel paled in comparison to the one thing that really mattered: her OTP.

_Calm down,_ Liza chided herself, to little avail. _It's not like he'll actually take those shipping photos with me anyway. He doesn't even know me. You've got to be the perfect England—don't get too excited._ Still, her mind was spinning and her spirit was soaring as she broke through the crowd and faced her soul-cosplayphoto-mate, the incantation of her love bursting out in a perfect British accent: "Can I take a photo of you?"

Slowly, the cosplayer turned. Eyes registering mild surprise, face arranging into a polite smile, the perfect France cosplayer said in a voice that was much higher than what Liza was expecting: "Sure, no problem."

All of Liza's hopes and dreams came crashing down. They shattered on the floor like a million glass bottles, fantasies oozing out from the broken shards as if taunting her, all spelling out one single, horrible realization:

_She was a girl._

"O-oh," Liza said, very nearly breaking out of her British accent by mistake. As quickly as she could she masked her disappointment behind a straight face. "Um, great." Getting out her camera, Liza snapped a few pictures of the France cosplayer who was still just as awesome as before, except for the eensy little fact that she'd just crushed Liza's heart into bits. _What are you so disappointed about, anyway?_ she asked herself. _You didn't really think that the two of you would somehow instantly become a perfect couple, did you? Idiot._ Yet a fangirl's broken dreams are a heavy, heavy thing. With a wistful sigh, Liza thought of all the France x England (a.k.a. FrUK) photos that now had to be rendered faceless in her imagination once again. Then she thanked the unsuspecting cosplayer and walked away.

As she looked around, it dawned on Liza that she now had no idea where she was. _Idiot,_ she thought, and beneath that, _Why'd the stupid France cosplayer have to be a girl? Why'd I have to get my stupid hopes up?_ She'd left the Artists' Alley (her friends all pronounced it as "Artists' Ally", like the Allied Powers as they were depicted in Hetalia) when chasing after the France cosplayer, and wasn't sure where she was. Forget going back through the Ally—that place was huge, and she'd probably just get even more lost than she was already. A glance at the clock told her it was 12:15, five minutes before the Hetalia panel she'd signed up for was scheduled to start. A panicky feeling rose up in her chest, and she forced it down. She just _had_ to get lost, hadn't she? What awful luck.

Near the corner of the spacious room flooded with people, Liza's gaze landed on a table near the corner marked INFORMATION. Sitting behind it was an official-looking woman wearing the pink colors of the convention. Normally, Liza was loathe to ask for help of any kind. It seemed very un-England-ish. But this was a dire situation, and so, Liza walked up to the table.

The woman had long, white-blond hair pulled back into a bun and pale eyes. She smiled slightly as Liza approached. For some reason, something about the woman struck Liza as odd, but she shrugged off the irrational feeling. "Excuse me," said Liza, ever so Britishly, "but I think I'm lost. Could you tell me the way to the Hetalia Ask-A-Nation panel?"

The woman regarded her for a moment, a queer look flitting over her face so briefly Liza wasn't sure if she'd imagined it. She lifted a long, slender finger and pointed at a nondescript hallway on the other side of the room, one Liza hadn't noticed before. "Go through that hallway and take a left. The door's at the end of the hall."

As she spoke, Liza noticed that she was wearing a button shaped like Flying Mint Bunny, England's imaginary friend in the Hetalia series. If she had been in a better mood, Liza might have pointed it out. She also might have wondered why the hallway that the woman was pointing her toward appeared so empty and dimly lit, or why no one else seemed to pay it any notice. But as it so happened, Liza was not in a better mood, and in addition to that, she was in a rush. Chalking it up to her overly paranoid brain, she thanked the woman and headed toward the hallway.

Turning left, the chatter of the main room dropped away unexpectedly fast. Alone in the narrow hall, Liza could hear each of her footsteps falling against the soft carpet. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was headed toward something much bigger than what she expected. Something that she could not even begin to imagine yet.

She reached out to turn the handle of the unmarked door at the end of the hallway and stepped in.

Her first thought was of confusion. She stood in an empty, spacious room with rows and rows of folding chairs lined up facing a long table at the front. It _looked_ like a panel room, but it was completely empty of people. There were no other exits that she could see. Looking around, Liza searched for some sign, anything to tell her what she was supposed to do next.

Behind her, the door slammed shut with a heavy, metallic _clang_. The sound echoed through the empty room. Before her eyes, it seemed that everything was beginning to blur. Liza shook her head, trying to get rid of the sensation, but it only intensified. There seemed to be a point of black in front of her that was rapidly absorbing everything with its dark tendrils, and a low howling noise was growing louder and louder. A wrenching fear erupted in Liza's chest as the thought _Am I going insane?_ ripped through her mind—it was the last lucid thing before she was overtaken by the void.


	3. Chapter 0: Magic and Mundane

Alex Goldstein sat hunched over in the back of the car, wondering what he had gotten himself into. This was his first convention of any kind, much less a large one like SmileCon.

He hadn't really thought that his mom was serious when she had suggested it. But no, supposedly it would be good for Alex to meet new people in a terrifyingly unfamiliar environment. And here he was, sitting in the back of his mother's car while she cheerfully drove him there.

After what seemed like only a few moments, the car stopped in front of the convention and Alex stepped out hesitantly, dressed in full Harry Potter regalia. _There are Harry Potter fans in conventions, right?_ He certainly hoped so.

He stood in front of the building, pondering his next move. He figured that his best bet would be to find some Harry Potter fans and tail them to some more hospitable place for a fellow HP fan. They could discuss The Books, possibly with a cup of tea and a fake British accent to boot. It would be nicely quiet and… "Mom? Mum? _Where'd you go?_" His mother had already pulled away, and he could just see her waving at him through the car window, probably calling out to him to have fun and talk to people.

_Well._ He was on his own.

Not that he really minded being alone, but it was rather unsettling to be dropped off in front of an unfamiliar building and be expected to socialize with a crowd of strangers.

The con building was enormous, and Alex proceeded to get lost the moment he entered. It was just so incredibly noisy and crowded, filled with people wearing everything from flowing robes to rather...skimpy costumes.

_Cosplays_, he reminded himself. At anime conventions, costumes were called cosplays. He darted around various groups of chattering teens, narrowly missing getting beheaded by a templar wielding a dramatic-looking sword. It may have been made of plastic, but still. _Better safe than sorry._ As Alex wove among the crowd, he thought back on his beloved fandom.

_Harry Potter._

He still remembered that rainy day in the library when he had plucked the fateful Book off a nearby shelf. He had read through the entire afternoon, sitting hunched over at a library table. That night, Alex had astonished his parents by chattering about magic, Quidditch, and Nicholas Flamel all through dinner. The sheer detail of the world had blown his ten-year-old mind, and he had been hooked.

The characters in those books had been so much more interesting than his fifth-grade classmates, and he had loved the Weasley family right from the start. The Weasley twins in particular had fascinated him, and he had spent many happy hours imagining himself in their place.

Alex was cosplaying as Fred Weasley, the slightly more commanding twin. His outfit was neatly in place, Gryffindor robes, wand, and all. He even carried a box of Nosebleed Nougat, homemade from marshmallows and peppercorns, for extra authenticity. The one flaw in his cosplay was his hair. Having naturally light brown hair, Alex had tried to dye it orange, with mixed results. His hair was now brown with orange stripes.

However, it would have to be good enough, and perhaps add to the Weasley mischief vibes he was trying to give off.

He had long since memorized the passages involving the Weasley twins, and now, as a junior in high school, was thoroughly and happily obsessed. From buying the merchandise to re-reading the books for the 17th time, he was Dumbledore's man through and through (as he liked to say).

Lost in his happy memories of a particularly satisfying scene in Book 5, he jumped as he collided with someone. The tiny girl that he had bumped glared up at him. "Who are you?" she demanded, primly swishing her Ravenclaw robes.

Alex blinked, slightly taken aback. "Er…I'm Alex Gol-"

"Not _your_ name! Who are you cosplaying as?" The girl looked at him expectantly.

"Oh! I'm Fred Weasley," Alex announced, trying for a playful smile.

The girl's pigtails swung as she shook her head. "Your hair is wrong."

Alex frowned. "But I have streaks of red in my hair. I'm a...streaky Weasley, geddit?"

The girl stared. "You're weird," she declared, before dashing away into the crowd.

Alex frowned as he continued walking. He had managed to put off the only Harry Potter fan in sight. It was true that his "streaky Weasley" comeback hadn't been a joke. Or a pun. It had been a rhyme. _A weak one._ Alex sighed. Hard as he tried, his attempts at humor always fell flat. And he was still lost.

As he looked around for any sign of a Harry Potter fan, his eyes fell upon an official-looking woman carrying a clipboard. _Like Umbridge,_ he thought idly, _that saccharine and controlling teacher at Hogwarts._ He then noticed a pin on her lapel. From this distance it looked like a pink plate with a white kitten on it. _Like Umbridge, the kitten-obsessed, pink-robed sadist!_ Alex dashed over, and skidding to a halt, blurted out, "I like your Umbridge cosplay! You've really got that vicious glint-" He stopped. The pin that had looked like a kitten plate was simply a white smile on a pink background: the convention logo.

This was an employee of the convention.

She was not wearing an Umbridge cosplay.

And he had just insulted her.

Alex quailed under the woman's steady gaze, feeling as if he were shriveling up in embarrassment. _You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you,_ he berated himself.

"Can I help you?" The woman inquired, interrupting Alex's frenzied thoughts. She seemed quite unfazed by his outburst.

"I - er - Could you direct me to the Harry Potter area?" Alex didn't even know if there was a Harry Potter area in this convention, but he had to say something.

"Oh yes!" The woman smiled at him, her pale eyes crinkling neatly at the edges. "Turn onto the first hallway to your right; it will be the door at the end of the hall."

"Thanks," Alex replied and dashed off, hoping to find his own kind at last.

Alex's footfalls were muffled by the thick carpet. He had long since stopped seeing people in the hallway, and was now entirely alone. He had found the hall easily enough, it was now a matter of getting to the end of it. It kept on turning at neat ninety-degree angles, making Alex feel as if he were hardly moving at all.

After a few minutes of silent walking, Alex began to feel desperate. Where was the end of this hallway? Perhaps there was no end - perhaps he was simply walking in circles and would continue to do so for the entire con. Just as he began to ponder turning back, he turned a final corner and saw the door, not ten feet away.

Alex paused to steady his ragged breathing. This was it. He was going to meet other devoted Harry Potter fans. They would discuss every possible recipe for butterbeer and quote obscure passages from The Books. Galloping gargoyles, he would be _social_. Alex drew himself up, adjusted his robes, and entered the room.

The first thing he noticed was that the area was more like a dining hall, with a peaked wooden ceiling.

The second thing he noticed was that it was completely empty.

Alex had barely a moment to register all of this before the world silently crumpled in on itself, and everything was gone.


	4. Chapter 0: First Sound

A young girl wore a teal-colored wig, the incredibly long twintails on each side swayed with each step she took. She held tight onto a newly bought plush toy of a character who also has long, teal-colored twintails. The outfit she wore resembled that of Little Red Riding Hood, while the plush was dressed in a grey and black school uniform. The girl walked cautiously around the booths selling hand-made merchandise for a few minutes, searching, before dropping herself onto a wooden bench.

"Well," she sighed, "it looks like I can't find my group." Her voice had no sense of urgency or panic. Instead, she took this moment to drink in the scene.

Sound was echoed and amplified in the spacious room. Everything was abuzz with activity and excitement. People were busy selling, buying, and taking pictures. The bulk of the people stayed within the center radius because the big-shot companies like PlushNote held stations there. The girl had come from that direction; in fact, she bought her beloved doll from PlushNote.

The girl lifted the plush to her face, meeting it eye to eye. She turned it around and upside-down, studying every stitch sewn in the hand-made masterpiece. The doll was broken up into multiple pieces that were eventually sewn all together. Wishing she, too, could sew as well as the maker of the plush, the girl sighed and lowered the toy. After playing with the plush some more, squishing it and waving its arm to herself, the girl looked up from her smaller version, unexpectingly seeing a familiar figure in the distance, running straight for her.

"Brother!" The girl hopped off the bench and walked towards the incoming boy.

"Nina!" The brother stopped in front of Nina, worn out. "You were here all along? I was looking everywhere!" The dark blue wig he wore was disheveled from running all over the convention, strands of hair pointing in all directions. As he lifted his bangs to wipe the sweat from his forehead, a glimpse of vibrant red hair peeked out. Though the building stayed fairly cool, his outfit insulated the heat from his body incredibly well. The heavy, white coat lined with fur he wore for his cosplay, including a full tuxedo with long pants underneath, pushed him to the limit.

"No," Nina shook her head, "I went around the Artist Alley and bought some stuff." She proudly held up her plush.

"That's a pretty cute Miku doll you got," her brother breathed out, "But you can't go off like that. Already, you've gotten lost too many times to count! It's because you wander around instead of staying in one place." He lightly karate chopped Nina on the head as a punishment.

"I thought I would be able to find you guys if I moved around," Nina tried to reason with him.

Her brother sighed. "That's not the best idea." Taking her hand, he started pulling her forward. "Come on, everyone's waiting."

Nina followed her brother, arm outstretched because his stride was far longer than her own, to the beautiful center hall where cosplayers from all sorts of fandoms gathered around the elaborate fountain nearby to take memorable photos. Nina's group waited by that fountain.

When they saw Nina and her brother, they quickly stood up and went out to meet them. Nina accepted a few endearing hugs from them, unable to hear the "welcome back"s because their arms wrapped around her ears.

"What's the setup for?" Nina's brother asked, seeing a tall tripod with a camera pointing towards the fountain.

"We thought we should take some pictures to put in the end of year slideshow we do," a girl wearing a long, pink wig answered. "You know, a club thing."

Nina looked questioningly up at her brother, who smiled and told her, "Don't worry, you're not in the club yet, but you can still be in the picture. Can't let Miku out of the group," he laughed, "You are going to join Anime Club when you get into high school, right?"

Nina nodded her head furiously. She had been excited about high school just to join the club, and to take Japanese. Her brother had surprisingingly agreed to take her to her first convention, SmileCon, despite not letting her go the previous year. She only had a year left before officially joining the club.

"Jayden's _adorable_ little sister is always welcome!" one club member piped up. She wore a long maid dress and short, green wig. Nina's face pinkened at the comment, too shy to mutter "thank you".

"Well," Nina's brother grinned, "If the club pres says so, then you definitely can join in, Nina."

Nina's amber eyes lost their worried expression and brightened up, eager to take a picture with the club members. Everyone gathered into position at the fountain, trying to copy a certain picture they saw online. Nina turned her back to the camera, though her face directed to the blue device and her eyes were still staring intently at it. The camera was propped so high up that it was at her eye level.

As she did, those who recognized their group cosplay whispered excitedly, "Hey, aren't they from Bad∞End∞Night, the VOCALOID song?" Some were bold enough to shout, "Nice cosplays, you guys!" to which the members shouted back, "Thank you!" Nina's heart beat faster, stimulated by the exciting atmosphere around her. She smiled to herself, happy to finally be able to go to a convention.

"Ready?" the club president yelled to the other members.

"Ready!" they all shouted back, even Nina, though her voice was drowned out.

The button activated a small, flashing red light. Nina calmed herself down; she was the only one who couldn't smile to keep in character. Timing perfectly, the club president ran towards Nina so her dress flared out behind her, one foot in the air. Nina tried her best to keep her attention to the camera, opening her mouth in mock surprise.

The flash was quick and sudden, but everyone was ready for it. After the picture was taken, everyone relaxed from their positions and turned to the president, who whirled the camera around so it would be unscrewed from the tripod. Gathering around her, everyone tried to catch a glimpse of the picture. The varying heights made it incredibly difficult to do so.

"I think it turned out pretty darn well," the president said with a grin.

"Yeah, it sure did," another member, this time with a long, purple wig, said. "I don't get why you're cosplaying KAITO, though." He directed his comment to Nina's brother.

"He fits the height," the club president answered, "And because we all forced him to so the _lovebirds_ can cosplay a couple together." She giggled and elbowed a taller girl wearing a bright red wig.

"Shut up!" The girl flushed as red as her wig.

"If that's the reason, then Kaitlyn should've been KAITO since she's slightly taller than Jay," the friend went on. "Besides, I was just saying since he has red hair and all. He wouldn't even have needed a wig since MEIKO's hair is short!"

"Her hair is brown, though," the club president mumbled, both hands on her hips.

Another member jumped in with a laugh, "If Jay's being MEIKO, then I want to be KAITO." He was shorter than the rest and his bright blonde hair was certainly a wig.

"Hey," Nina's brother laughed as well, "you're most definitely not the right height, shortie."

"Alas," the shorter member responded. "But height does not matter in love. Right, Nina?"

Surprised she was addressed, Nina quickly nodded her head, twintails swinging back and forth. She didn't hear what he asked, though.

"Anyway," her brother cut in, "it's too late. I'm KAITO and that's that."

"Hai, hai." the club president changed topics. "What do you guys think about eating lunch? Better now than later, everything's about to start." The members gave nods of approval, suddenly realizing their growling stomachs. Nina didn't want to miss any of the panels they had planned to go to. "Well, it's settled, then." She pointed to a random direction. "To the food court we go!"

As everyone started following her, Nina pulled gently on her brother's sleeve. "What is it?" He turned around, seeing Nina holding a small, golden prop in her hands.

"I made it." She handed it to her brother. "It's the clock hand knife Miku used in the song."

"Cool." Jayden flipped it around, studying the varying cuts and designs on the small object. "Good job. So that's why you didn't let me in your room that time?"

Nina nodded her head. "I wanted to surprise you. If you came in, you would've seen all the golden foil and cardboard bits on the floor!"

Her brother chuckled. "You're right, I would've." He returned the prop to Nina. "Come on, let's go to the court."

At the food court, the members were once again waiting for the two of them. "Too slow!" the president shouted out to them.

"Sorry about that," Nina's brother yelled back.

"As a punishment," the final member, a short girl with a blond wig spoke, "you have to buy us drinks!"

"Oh, come on," Jayden laughed. "Fine, what does everyone want?"

After everyone announced their choice, Jayden turned to Nina. "Alright, you stay here with them, ok? Wait for me to come back before you go pick something for lunch." Nina nodded her head. Her brother rushed off to the far end of the court where he would be able to buy the various drinks people requested.

"Ok, I'm going to get hamburger and fries, who's coming?" the club president announced. A few people agreed to go with her. The others decided they wanted something else, so they left for their chosen destinations. "Don't listen to Jay, Nina, we can buy for you. What would you like?" The green-haired president smiled down to Nina.

Nina shook her head. "Bathroom…"

"Oh, of course!" The president pointed outside the court. "It's over that way."

Nodding her head slightly to acknowledge her help, Nina shuffled back to the entranceway of the food court. Though there were crowds of people, she spotted the restrooms easily; the signs helped. Heading the direction the signs pointed to, she silently quizzed herself, trying to identify the various cosplays around her. _Attack on Titan, Pokemon, Doctor Who… _She named a satisfying amount before heading into the bathroom.

When she exited it, her ears perked up, faintly hearing a noise she recognized very much. _"Tell Your World"_, she thought, her eyes widening. Feeling the song was calling out to her, she eagerly looked around for the source. She walked all around the center, hoping someone there might be playing the song. The VOCALOID cosplayers she spotted had nothing that could play music, nor was the sound coming from them. The song was at the ending point, and Nina started to panic, worried she won't find the source if the song ended.

With her panic level at full meter, she gathered up the courage to ask an official-looking lady about the music. "Uhm!" She tried to get the blonde woman's attention.

When the woman turned around, Nina saw she carried a clipboard full of papers. Inferring they were programs for the different events around the convention, Nina relaxed. _She must know where it is._ "Do you know if there's a VOCALOID event here? Not a panel, more like a concert…" Nina's voice shook slightly, nervous about talking to a stranger.

"Oh." The lady seemed to recognize what Nina was describing and looked through her papers to find the event. "Yes, there's a karaoke room for VOCALOIDs in that direction." She pointed Nina towards an empty hallway. "It seems it's already started, though, so everyone's at their location." The lady smiled. "But if you go now, you won't miss much."

"Thanks…" Nina's voice faded, anxious to end the conversation. She hurriedly shuffled towards the direction the lady pointed to, heading deep into the hallway. There was no music, but Nina believed it was because no one wanted to sing at the moment. Her feet pattered on the hallway rug.

When Nina reached an open door, filled with a multitude of flashing, colorful lights, she was sure she found the right place. Bracing herself to meet others, Nina took a deep breath. Her brother was sure to be worried about where she went, but when she told him, he'd be happy to hear she met others all by herself.

Nina stepped into the room. Her smile was replaced by a confused frown when she saw no one in the flashing lights. With a heavy heart, she turned to leave, but saw the door had silently closed behind her. Before her hands could touch the handle, Nina blacked out and fell to the floor.

* * *

_"First Sound (Hajimete no Oto)" by malo featuring Hatsune Miku_


	5. Chapter 0: Jeff: PCHOOOOO

A young man sat at a table. It just so happened that he was dressed as a particular alien species called a troll, surrounded by others who were similarly outfitted. Though it was sixteen years ago he was given life, it wasn't until this day that he would be given a name!

Yeah, actually, that was false. This guy had been named for quite a while. His name was J3FFR3Y TOB1N.

Uh, ahem. _Jeffrey Tobin_.

So anyway, this young man/troll was sitting at a table, eating his lunch. It was a little past noon on the first day of one of the biggest conventions in Arizona: SmileCon. Jeff was outfitted as the male version of Terezi, a character from a lovely little webcomic called Homestuck. Among other things, that meant he was wearing gray face paint, a pair of pointy candy-corn-esque horns, and a shirt displaying the Libra symbol underneath a red-and-teal jacket. He also wore a pair of pointed glasses, which (he'd been told) turned everything red. But that was okay, because Jeff happened to be colorblind. It was like wearing a pair of shades; everything was a little darker than usual. Also grayer.

The character he was genderbending was just plain blind (but no worries: she could see with her nose), so he carried her red-and-white cane topped with the head of a dragon. There was no need for a wig—Jeff's black hair was already suitable for his character. That was a bit of a relief. Wigs, you know, could be pretty frustrating sometimes. They were only one of the many pains a serious cosplayer had to undergo.

And Jeff was a _serious cosplayer._

Okay, maybe not really serious, but still. He'd had his share of cosplay turmoil. Not to mention that he'd lost a few potential friends and more than a few rungs on the social ladder after he picked up some rather unusual habits from his fandom. Oh, well, they weren't great friends, and he didn't care about popularity anyway.

They thought he seemed cool. Then he licked them.

"Dude," said the guy sitting next to Jeff, a Homestuck who was cosplaying Dirk Strider and whose real name was…Colin? Corrin? Jeff could never remember. He was a member of the Homestuck group from Jeff's town, which met about every month to hang out, spot references, walk around town dressed in weird outfits and attract stares. Most of them went to the same school; Jeff, who was a junior in high school, attended the same tiny private academy that he'd gone to his whole life. "Dude. Check out this Homestuck Hiatus tumblr."

Colin—Corrin—screw it, _Dirk_—held out his smartphone. Jeff took one look at the gif of Jake English's body and face swinging back and forth along his stretched-out head and snorted out laughter into his pizza. He put the pizza down and kept on laughing, pushing the phone back toward its owner. "Jegus, that's way too awesome. And I've seen this a zillion times before. Homestuck's been on hiatus for months."

The Dirk shrugged. "Days, months, it's still painful. And hilarious."

"Sure," said Jeff, grinning his perpetual grin. It was a very characteristic, open-mouthed grin, and was in fact one of the reasons why he'd first decided to cosplay Terezi. Jeff's grin annoyed some, but most people he knew just took it for granted by now. "Have you seen the one with Feferi and Eridan's eyes?"

"What? No," said the Dirk.

Jeff grabbed the phone back and started scrolling through the blog, trying to find the picture. He talked as he scrolled: "It's great. Eridan's standing over here, and his eyes are all copy-pasted over each other and snaking all over the page, and then they end next to Feferi who's staring at him like, 'What the hell?' and he's just like 'hey fef'… Oh, hey, here it is." He handed the phone back to the Dirk. It should probably be noted here that one should not be expected to keep track of the characters in Homestuck. There are at least twenty characters that real fans are expected to know, all of whom have told the story from their point of view at some point or another. Homestuck is some serious stuff. Yeah, no, that's a lie.

Jeff pushed his chair back, the metal legs grating loudly against the tile floor, and stood up. "Hey, I've gotta use the bathroom. Be back in a minute." The Dirk might have nodded, eating a slice of pizza with one hand and scrolling through Tumblr with the other.

When Jeff stepped out of the bathroom minutes later, the first thing he noticed was the emptiness. His eyes flicked from the hall in front of him, to the crowd of nameless cosplayers, to the deserted table. There were no gray faces or horoscope symbols to be seen. They were gone.

Of course, this didn't perturb Jeff in the slightest. He was way too cool for that. Really, though, Jeff wasn't hurt that they'd abandoned him in anyway. It wasn't like he knew them really well—he only saw them maybe once a month, and kept in touch over the internet in between. Sure, they were the only ones who didn't get more than mildly weirded out when he pretended to lick them, and he had been known to spend hours at a time roleplaying with them over Facebook—but that wasn't the point. The point is, Jeff didn't mind. He set off in the direction he thought they had probably gone, thinking of all the funny things he would say when he found them.

You see, the keyword here is _when_. Jeff had no reason to believe that he would find his group again in the very near future. He definitely wasn't going to find himself in a strange room, which would then emit a strange sound, possibly transporting him to a strange dimension. That's really a bizarre and impossible situation. There's no way it would ever happen.

Countless presumably colorful cosplayers flowed past him. He knew none of them. As his eyes followed a group of people laughing together, walking in the opposite direction, Jeff maybe wished, for just a moment, that he had friends as close as that. Friends who wouldn't forget about him and leave him behind. Also, friends who wouldn't think that spending all your time online reading an insanely long webcomic, and then dressing up as a character from that webcomic, was all that strange. Yeah, it would be pretty great if he had some friends like that.

It was too bad that all of his school friends thought Homestuck was crazy. Fortunately, Jeff knew he possessed the rare ability to walk up to a complete stranger and turn on all his weird, which was especially useful at a convention like this.

But then the people he met would probably forget about him. Which, by the way, didn't bother him at all.

Yeah, there was no sign of his friends here. For all he knew, he could be going in the completely wrong direction. Jeff scanned the hallway and spotted a woman wearing a shirt printed with the word _SmileCon_ standing near the wall. She was carrying a stack of papers and a clipboard, and struck him as the kind of person who might be able to help him out. He changed direction, pushing his way through the crowd toward her.

"Hey," he said when he reached her. She paused and looked at him. Her gaze, behind her glasses, was unusually sharp and piercing. Jeff pretended it didn't make him uncomfortable and went on to ask, "Did a group of Homestucks come this way a few minutes ago? Gray skin, orange horns, black shirts, plus a few humans?"

The woman regarded him for a moment. He waited. Then she said, "Yes, I believe they did." She turned to point at a smaller hall off the side of the main one. "They went that way, I think."

"Thanks," said Jeff. "Nice pin, by the way." He pointed at the pin she wore, which was the same design on Homestuck human Roxy Lalonde's shirt.

"What, this?" The woman touched her pin, giving Jeff a better view. He blinked. What he had thought was the shape of a four-eyed cat's head was actually just a simple smiley face—the symbol of the convention.

"Uh…yeah. Smiley faces are awesome." He turned away before she could respond.

Jeff stood examining the hallway for a moment. It was a pretty dark and suspicious-looking hallway. There was pretty much no way his friends had gone in there. After a moment's thought, he turned and walked away.

What? No alternate dimensions in this guy's future—it said so. Jegus, don't you read?

_"Jeff!"_

Jeff turned. Was it just his imagination, or had he heard somebody calling his name?

_"Jeff!"_

There it was again! There was no doubt about it this time; the sound was definitely coming from the hallway he'd been directed to. Jeff gave the entryway another look. Maybe it wasn't quite as dark as he'd thought…

He made up his mind. Glancing around one more time just to make sure his group really was nowhere in sight, Jeff stepped into the empty side hallway. He was right—it wasn't nearly as dark as it had looked from out in the bright, swarming main area. He'd always wondered if being colorblind sometimes threw off his brightness perception a bit.

At the end of the hall, a door stood slightly ajar, flooding the hall with light. Beyond it, he thought he could hear voices. Preparing his best crazy grin, Jeff picked up the pace, anticipating the moment when he could laugh off the whole thing with his group. He reached the door and pushed it open.

For a very brief moment, Jeff registered a huge, empty room. Certainly there were no Homestucks present. Then his vision went black, as if someone had just shut off all the lights, and he felt a powerful tugging sensation at his feet. The last thing he heard before everything was sucked away was a sound that could only be described as PCHOOOOO…


	6. Chapter 0: Day of the Con

Heather entered the con early in the day, excited by the hustle and bustle emanating from the huge crowd of nerds just like her. She usually got anxious around large groups of people, but her cosplay was her armor. The tweed jacket, bow tie, and fez lent themselves to her in a way that made her feel as if she could be, if not normal, then a little more interesting and outgoing than usual. She had been ecstatic when her parents had presented the ticket to her as an early birthday present, hopping up and down with a silly smile on her face while at the same time mentally planning a fabulous 11th Doctor cosplay. Oh, the mere thought of wearing a fez while holding bundles of TinyVinyl figures while pin-hunting had her grinning like her favorite madman with a box.

Wiping a bit of sweat off of her brow, formed from a combination of the Arizona heat and the tweed jacket, she surveyed the main floor. Heather stood still for a few moments, drinking in the detailed costumes, talented vendors, and amazing art. She spotted a fellow sonic wielder in the crowd and made her way through the throng to snap a quick cell-phone pic of the steampunked blue suit and Converse, making a mental note to find a shop that sold old-fashioned clothing.

After wandering around a bit more, she stopped to admire a gorgeous watercolor print of the TARDIS, its rich royal blues offset nicely by the dark setting of space and the golden hue of stars. After checking the price tag, however, she sighed quietly and walked on, in search of something a little bit more to her wallet's tastes. She found herself once more among the sea of vendors, and, spying a stall that held everything from bow-tie earrings to TARDIS ornaments to glow-in-the-dark K-9 plushies, she walked over in a haze of potential merchandise ownership.

_Jackpot_, Heather thought when she reached the stand. Its contents were even more amazing up close. _T-shirts, bracelets, board games! Ooh, I didn't even know they had made a comic!_ She internally squee-ed and set herself to the consuming task of deciding exactly which items would find their way into her bag. As she sifted through the boxes of items, she thought back to the day when she had first been introduced to "her" Doctor.

* * *

"Heather, where are you, honey? The sitter will be here soon." her mother called, rousing Heather from her imaginary world full of princesses and monsters, fairies and happy endings.

"Coooming!" she shouted back, standing up quickly, careful not to upset her dolls. With little pajama-clad feet pounding down the stairs from her bedroom she ran to the entry hall, nearly running into her father.

"Whoah, there querida [1], slow down. Mr. Jackson will be here soon." He used the Spanish term of endearment with a soft smile on his face, looking on as the bobble of curly-hair that was his daughter ran to the foyer. The doorbell rang, and Heather rushed to answer it, wrenching open the lock as she laid eyes on her favorite sitter.

"Peter, please, come in," Heather's mother called from the foot of the stairs, pulling her coat on. "The emergency numbers are where they usually are and…" The rest of the conversation was lost for young Heather, just eight years old, as she stared at the warm brown eyes of her family's friend and neighbor. "...And make sure she gets in bed by 9:30. We should be back around 11:00. We're going to go see that new_Lord of the Rings_ at the theater." She knelt down to kiss her only child goodbye, saying, "Be nice to Mr. Jackson and don't watch too much TV. And remember to brush your teeth before bedtime." With this last advice and a parting hug she was out the door.

"So kiddo, what do you want to do?" Mr. Jackson asked.

"Movie time!" Heather responded eagerly. Mr. Jackson always brought a fun new film to watch each time he babysat.

"Sorry kiddo, no movie this week."

"Awww, but-"

"I have something even cooler to show you. I think you're gonna love it."

"What? What is it? Tellmetellmetellme."

"Slow down there kiddo," he said, patting the jumping child on the head. "I'll show you the surprise if you eat all your broccoli with dinner."

Heather really hated broccoli, but she also hated not knowing things so when her dinner plate was placed in front of her she scarfed down that dreaded veggie like it was chocolate.

"All done!" she announced when her plate had been cleaned.

"Good job kiddo! Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Heather thought about the taste in her mouth for a minute and decided that he was right. "Now can I have my surprise? Pleaaaaase?"

Mr. Jackson chuckled a bit at Heather, saying, "Ok, ok, now it's suprise time. And do you know what goes well with surprises?"

"What?"

"Chocolate ice cream, of course," he said, pulling a carton from the fridge.

"Yay!"

Mr. Jackson scooped the cold treat into two bowls, making sure to add all the proper fixings. He handed Heather a bowl and told her to go to the living room.

Once there, Mr. Jackson slipped a DVD from his pocket out of its case and into the player, balancing the ice cream with one hand and performing the action with the other. Heather had already made herself comfy on the couch and began digging into her ice cream. "Ok, are you ready for your surprise now?"

"Yes!"

"Well, OK then. Turn the TV on and press play."

Heather did just this, and saw on the screen a man in a blue police box wearing a loooong scarf. And then there was action! And aliens called Daleks! And time _and_ space travel! Heather sat on the couch rapt, occasionally popping a bite of ice cream into her mouth, or letting out a gasp whenever something particularly awesome happened. By the end of the episode, Heather had fallen in love with the series, in love with scarfs and sonics, in love with the TARDIS, and in love with science fiction. Her previous world of pretty princesses had been forgotten. She had new worlds now, and lots of them. She had gone with the doctor and nothing would ever be the same again.

* * *

Heather remembered that day with a grin. She hadn't wanted to go to bed after the credits rolled on the second episode, and had convinced Mr. Jackson to let her see just one more. When Mr. Jackson had finally insisted that it was her bedtime she had dreamed of that final frontier, space, and of traveling through it with the Doctor. In the end, for her current cosplay it had come down to her first doctor (she never forgot him), and the 11th. It was so much of a tie between the two of them that it had come down to a coin toss, and when the penny dropped it had landed on heads, so Heather had gone with 11.

She turned her attention back to the merchandise in front of her, selecting the Dalek Talking Plushie, bought it, and placed it carefully into her bag. Looking at her phone, she realized it was almost time for the Whovian meet-up. Totally un-directional Heather wandered into a quiet corner and pulled out the multicolored trickery that was the con's map. _Shoot, how am I ever going to find this place? The con is huge!_she thought. With her head down in the map, her feet began moving to the west, then east and then- _. Bugger. I better just ask someone,_ she thought, frustrated with her pitiful navigation attempts. She popped her head up and realized that she had absolutely no idea where she was._Ugh, not again._ Looking around, she spotted a platinum blonde woman who was sitting at some kind of reception desk. Heather walked up to ask her and noticed that she was wearing a 3D TARDIS pin. "I-I l-like your pin," Heather murmured softly, a red blush quickly spreading across her tan cheeks.

"Did you say something?" The women spoke in a clipped tone, her voice that of a person that didn't have much time to waste.

"N-nevermind," she muttered. "I-I'm looking for the Doctor Who meetup and photoshoot. Do you know where it is?"

"Yes, you go down that hall and make a right. The meetup should be in the room on your left," the woman responded briskly, pointing down.

"T-thank you…" Heather walked quickly in the direction the woman had pointed, thinking of how exciting it would be to be around others who understood; who understood the show's pain, its humor, its anguish, its awesomeness. She took larger and larger strides, thinking of all the cosplays she would see, how the quotes would be exchanged, how the laughs would flow freely at the mention of fish-sticks and custard. Heather stood in front of the door, steadying herself for the crowd she was sure to encounter. _There's nothing to be afraid of. These are your people,_ she reassured herself. She pushed open the heavy door, feeling the cold metal bite into her slick palm. The room was empty, and filled with a complete lack of light. As Heather took a small step over the threshold she heard the door shut with a soft click behind her and the world disappeared.

[1]-Querida: Spanish: Darling


	7. Chapter 1: CELESTE

YUZU* awoke with a gasp, eyes forced widely open. The sudden intake of breath caused him to immediately start coughing, and he raised a hand to cover his mouth.

_Where am I?_ Squinting his eyes instinctively, he saw vast whiteness surrounding him. Although he surveyed all around, he could only see the sea of white. YUZU* cautiously walked in a random direction, unsure of what else he could really do. He looked down at his hands to make sure he was still in color.

Feeling rather stupid for worrying, YUZU* lifted up his head, effectively coming into contact with the unseen wall in front of him.

"Ouch!" YUZU*'s hand rushed up to rub his hurting forehead. _What the hell was that?_ His other hand swung aimlessly in front of him in search of the wall. When his fingers touched it, YUZU* slid his hand across the invisible barricade in hopes of finding the end of it. Surprisingly, it didn't take long for him to discover a barrier, another wall, ending the first one. Making his way all around, YUZU* realized the room wasn't as vast as it looked. A slight case of claustrophobia overtook his brief moment of relief. _I have to get out of here._

He sighed deeply. _Should I call for help?_ he wondered. Pressing his forehead on the wall, he mentally thought of a plan. _I shouldn't cause a scene. There's probably a hidden door somewhere. I could find it, get out, and nothing would seem to have ever happened. _Out of nowhere, he remembered ayaka's tuna sandwich. _Shit, it's probably done by now._ He silently scolded himself. _It was a mistake coming here out of curiosity._

YUZU* reached out for the wall again. This time, when he found it, he clenched his hand into a fist and lightly tapped his knuckles on the barrier.

_Knock, knock._ Nothing sounded out of the ordinary. He tried scratching the wall, but his attempts ended in vain. _Like I actually thought there was some secret door hidden behind the wallpaper or something._ He continued tapping various parts of the room.

After checking even the ceiling and floor, YUZU* gave up thinking there would be a way out. He came to the realization that he was extremely tired. The narrow room was not only small, but also hot. Bending down or reaching up to get to some parts of the room wore him out. _I know we're pretty far down, but this is ridiculous._ He wiped the sweat accumulating on his forehead and decided it would be best to take off his scarf and jacket.

When he removed his striped scarf, YUZU* released a sigh of comfort. The sweat became a cooling liquid to his burning neck. His scarf dangled in his right hand while his left hand lifted the collar of his shirt that was restraining him. As he raised his scarf, it swung forwards and backwards. Shimmering particles gently floated off.

"What the..." YUZU* started violently shaking the scarf, causing more flecks of glitter flew out. The each one of specks had a slight glow, vibrant blue in color. As a few floated gently into the air, vanishing later, YUZU* hypothesized what happened. "This couldn't be..." Doubt covered his face; the idea was so bizarre and unreal.

_Oh god, this is stupid,_ he laughed awkwardly, _This is so stupid, but I gotta try it._

With a quick flick of the wrist, YUZU* directed the loose end of his scarf towards an invisible barrier. The glowing fragments once again trailed behind it.

_Crack!_ A loud noise, like a hammer hitting glass, rang out. The area where the scarf had impacted the wall spread in all directions, creating cracks snaking out. Quickly following, a million shards of thin, shattered pieces of the walls that had encased YUZU* rained down around him. Time seemed to pass slowly by; the stupefied boy tilted his head back and stared at the pieces flying above him. Astonished, he took a wary step back and the rest of the shards came showering down.

The broken pieces began to dissolve into the air, surrounding YUZU* in a beautiful array of sparkling dust until they all vanished into nothing. Now free, he stood facing a colossal, semi-cylindrical shaped window that stretched a couple floors high. Looking out, the boy only saw white mist covering a few specks of green where the outer garden would be. _What just happened?_

He recognized the place he landed in, though he couldn't comprehend how he got there. In the far left corner of the convention building resided a relaxation lounge overlooking gardens and the vast sky. The lounge had soft couches, coffee tables, armchairs, and rugs of many colors. YUZU* only wandered this far from the center of the convention building once or twice out of boredom. He remembered it well, though, as it stood out from many other features in the building. In a way, it looked similar to the melting pot of cosplayers by the fountain at the center, but peaceful and quiet. In the soft whispers of the wind and hushed voices of those there, YUZU* felt he could fall asleep in his dreams.

This time, though, the wind and voices were replaced with various other noises. He could not see them, but the low growls and grunts set YUZU*'s panic mode on. He clenched his scarf, unsure what to expect. As he glanced around nervously, YUZU* was unsurprised to see no one, though the relaxation area usually held a few people here and there. Everything so far had been abnormal.

YUZU* walked cautiously, eyes darting side to side for anything out of the ordinary other than the sounds. In his efforts to observe all around him, he didn't notice the bright red armchair he collided into. Losing his balance, his pain sensors were saved by a fuzzy, purple rug underneath the chair.

Before he stood back up, YUZU* noticed a light behind the chair and leaned back to further inspect it. "What's this?" The chair revealed a glowing orb about the size of someone's head, shaking feverishly. _S…shaking?_ Two circular eyes stared in fear at YUZU*, who stared back. Startled, YUZU* clumsily got back on his feet and took a few steps right into the corner of a wooden coffee table.

His exclamation of agony alarmed the glowing orb, and it quickly floated away.

"Ah, wait!" He gave a few quick rubs on the side of his knee where the table pierced him, and chased after the creature. _I feel like I recognize that creature from somewhere!_ The orb floated into a opened storage closet to hide. YUZU* quickly followed it.

As soon as he stepped in, YUZU* spotted the creature. In the far corner of the closet, there was a bright light behind boxes and cleaning supplies. _Nice try, but you really stand out in this dark place._ YUZU* chuckled, feeling somewhat sorry for it._ Does it know that it's a glowing ball of light?_ "Come out, please." He tried using a soothing voice to coax the creature out. "I ended up here somehow and it seems you're the only animate thing around. You know, I actually think I know what you are. Did your conjurer leave you here? I'll help you find them, ok?" _I'm a little curious about the conjurer myself…_

The critter peeked out from its hiding spot, determining whether or not YUZU* was trustworthy or not. _How cute…_ YUZU* smiled. To his relief, the orb of light came closer and closer.

On closer inspection, the creature was a translucent white sphere with glowing yellow-orange edges around the circumference. Its eyes and mouth reminded YUZU* of neon lights. _So it was what I thought it was… Huh? But that can't be right._ He looked down to the floor, pondering. _I've somehow got myself into a real mess… All because I wanted to watch a tournament or something. I don't even know._ He let out a soft sigh. _Anyway, I might want to take this time to name the thing. It's difficult to keep calling it "it" and "creature" all the time._ "Hmm," YUZU* tilted his head and closed his eyes; naming things wasn't his forte. "S-Shiro…" The orb looked up at him in confusion. YUZU* looked away. _Idiot, is that the best you can do?_ He didn't want to admit it, but it was certainly a fitting name. However, uncreative.

"Ouch!" Shiro was startled again by YUZU*'s sudden exclamation. It looked at him as if asking, "Are you all right?" He responded, "Yeah, sorry, I felt like someone was talking about me. In a bad way…"

With that thought, he remembered the tuna sandwich that ayaka wanted. _How much time has passed, anyway?_ Reaching into his pocket, YUZU* took out a light orange flip phone. With this, he could check the time and call ayaka to pick up the sandwiches, if they were still there. The phone's monitor was black when YUZU* opened it. _Huh? I thought it was on before._ He put his thumb over the red End Call button and pressed it down for a long time. _Oh no._ He lifted his thumb and pressed it down again. _Oh no, are you kidding me?_ Unfortunately, it seemed the phone was dead.

YUZU* felt some divine figure brought him bad fortune today. What kind of cliche horror film is this? He wanted to yell it out in frustration, but decided to crouch down in defeat instead. A sigh escaped his mouth again. Shiro floated close to him, a worried expression on its little face.

All the commotion awoke some other creature in the closet with them. Sensing the monster, Shiro flashed brightly for an instant and then drifted hurriedly out of the storage room. "Wait- Shiro?" A spark of thought came upon YUZU*. _I've seen this happen so many times before. The trustworthy pet dashing off suddenly from the owner as a warning. A warning. And what happened next was-_

With a horrified gasp, YUZU* scrambled his way out of the closet in time. He quickly glanced behind him and saw a forest green garbage can rolling its way fast towards him, black lid opened wide like a mouth ready to eat. _W-what is that?!_ In no time, YUZU* closed the closet door with a satisfying slam and the automatic lock clicked soon after.

Out of breath, YUZU* held on tight to the closet door handle for a few moments longer. The frightening banging behind it made him worry that whatever that monster was could escape. Shiro returned, urging YUZU* to come with it.

"Hmm? Are you saying I can let go? It won't get out or anything?" Shiro nodded its head-er, body, whatever-and gently glided away. YUZU* followed, glancing behind him a few times to check the closet, just in case.

Stopping at the center of the relaxation lounge, Shiro turned to face YUZU*, its mouth curving into a frown. _Uh, wait…_ "Are you mad at me?" YUZU* couldn't think of anything he did to Shiro that would anger it. "Maybe… You don't like the name 'Shiro'?" The orb shook itself. "Then… what?"

Shiro floated down to YUZU*'s scarf, nudging it slightly. _I forgot I was holding onto this…_ Then, it faced towards the closet door, as if pointing itself to it.

"Scarf… Closet… Closet monster?" YUZU* held up his finger to his chin in thought. "Scarf… S-Scarfy!" Shiro hovered back up to eye level and looked disappointed. "Sorry, that wasn't correct, was it?" Casting a glance back down to the scarf, YUZU* noticed the faint sparkles again. "Hey, wait…" He looked up at Shiro. "Could it be you're angry at me for not fighting the monster with my scarf?"

Shiro brightened up and nodded, expression turning into two carets and a 'v'. "But I don't know how to use it well, yet. I only know it can break things. And anyway, how do you know about my scarf, Shiro?" Shiro hypothetically shrugged. "If you know about my scarf… Then you must know what else I can do with the scarf, right? Are you some kinda information broker?" Lifting up the scarf, YUZU* gave it a swing, and the specks of glitter fell from it again.

Shiro stared at him, unable to answer. YUZU* looked back and sighed. "Well, whatever. It's ok. I'll just avoid coming into contact with anything until I figure this thing out." _The best thing to do now would be to go to the center…_ He mentally came up with a plan. _Find someone who can tell me what's going on. But would they give me that information easily?_ Thinking back on all the perfectly scripted out events so far, YUZU* doubted it. _Maybe I could use money to bribe them._ To his surprise, his wallet was still with him. _Right, I was going to use this to buy lunch… What have I succumbed to… Bribery and all. I should have hope that whoever I come across will be friendly and willing to pass on information._

Pocketing his amber wallet again, YUZU* directed his attention back to Shiro. "Come on, Shiro, we're going to the center." The glowing orb happily trailed behind him.

On the first hallway back to the center, YUZU* noted at least a dozen monsters, diverse in size, blockading his way. He was torn between excitement and dismay at the creatures he recognized. _Somehow or another, I have to find a way to avoid all of them._ He scanned the hallway again, making notes on the monsters he recognized. Some were quite keen on their senses.

_This isn't going to be easy…_

* * *

_YUZU* again. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ_  
_It's unfortunate that I somehow lost connection to the Internet._  
_My phone's not working either. Kinda strange how that is. ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)_  
_Well, that's not really the most important part._  
_The weirdest thing is that there are monsters or some creatures roaming around that look very familiar. Very. Familiar. ((((；゜Д゜)))_  
_I feel like I'm in a movie or something. A very cliche horror movie or something._  
_Except, it's brightly lit and some of the monsters are friendly._  
_And there's magic, too? （°o°；）_  
_Ah, it's all too unreal, I feel like I'm in a dream! But if I were in a dream, would I remember to type a journal?_  
_I don't know. I hope I find someone or some creature that can tell me what's going on!_  
_Shiro is great company, but it's not like s/he can talk…_  
_Oh, Shiro? S/he's this creature that I found. A glowing orb, kinda._  
_I know, I know, the name sucks. But it fits, so..._  
_… I hope the people in the convention are ok. And ayaka, what about her?_


	8. Chapter 2: Monster-Fleeing Parade

The ground was cold and smooth beneath her, and there was a faint ringing sound in her ears. Liza cracked open her eyes, but all she could see was a strange golden-white film that she couldn't seem to bring into focus. The bright light stung, giving her the beginnings of a pounding headache, and she had to fight to keep from squeezing her eyes shut once again.

Slowly, painfully, she became aware of her body again. She was lying on her side, curled in on herself, and something hard was digging into her ribs. An involuntary groan escaped her lips, and she began to roll lethargically over. Unexpectedly, the golden film slid away to reveal a shiny wooden floor that stretched out to meet a rich purple fabric. With a twinge of embarrassment, Liza realized her hair had come loose from her ponytail and had flopped over her face-that was why she couldn't see.

She sat up, even though her muscles ached, and stared around. She was sitting at the very center of a huge, circular room. All around her, the walls were hidden by heavy purple curtains that stretched up and up. They rippled and billowed with barely a sound, like children whispering to one another just out of sight, though there was no wind. The air was still as death.

iWhat is this place? What happened?/i Reaching up to brush her hair out of her face, Liza felt an unexpected weight attached to her wrist. She looked down and blinked. Blinked again-then gasped. "iMy camera!/i"

Hanging from her wrist was an object that only loosely resembled what it had been before. It seemed to be encased in a solid black shell, with gaps for the screen and all the buttons, and covered evenly with an array of little spikes. Half horrified, half flat-out bewildered, Liza searched frantically all over the case for some way to get it off but found nothing. There wasn't even a hint of a seam. In a hesitant effort to make sure it really was her beloved camera, Liza snapped a picture of a random portion of floor and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it still worked.

She glanced around. Her wig was lying nearby, along with her wig cap and scrunchie. Liza grabbed the hairband and expertly tied up her long, smooth hair in a messy ponytail that swung across her back. Then she whipped her cell phone out from her cosplay pocket, where it had been digging into her side, and prepared to make sense out of this bizarre mess-but it was dead.

She jammed the button with increasing impatience, the thoughts swirling in her head growing more and more frenzied, until finally she had to admit that there was nothing she could do. She dropped the cell phone in her lap with a frustrated sigh.

Well, there was only one thing to do, then; she would have to go through the big double doors at the front of the room and search for her friends herself. There was probably no hope of making it to the panel, anyway. Not like she was in any state to participate, with this headache that was building more and more every minute, especially since she'd unexpectedly blacked out… She grimaced, not wanting to think about what ithat/i might mean. Scooping up the spiky blond wig from the ground, Liza started to get to her feet.

Something slimy and goopy green dripped from above and landed on top of her hand.

Liza stared at the drop of slime, revulsion building inside her, until she shook it off fiercely with a sound of disgust. Blinking, her eyes followed the rolling purple curtains up...up...until she reached the ceiling.

Hanging from the chandelier by its obscenely long arms was the most grotesque, bizarre thing Liza had ever seen. It had slimy, leathery skin the exact color of green-tinged vomit. Its gangly arms and stunted legs each ended in a large clawed hand, and its bald head was shaped like a lumpy, rotten potato. As Liza stood there, staring up at it in utter horror and disgust, it looked at her with its two big, black, expressionless eyes, and its pinched little mouth twitched open to produce a hissing, juddering roar. At the sound of that roar, Liza's mind went completely blank and her instincts kicked in. She scuttled backwards on all fours faster than she ever would have thought possible, eyes locked on the impossible creature. The chandelier shook, glass tinkling, and a few pieces fell to shatter on the floor along with the drops of greenish slime that were falling faster and faster from the creature's skin. The monster shook-its face trembled-was it imelting?/i

Liza barely had time to process this crazy thought before the creature's eyes turned to slits and it iexploded/i, plummeting to earth in a shower of glass and goo. She screamed, arms and legs tripping over each other as the entire chandelier crashed to the ground-bits of green slime and chunks of rubbery flesh showered over her face-the ground gave way beneath her, all at once, and Liza crashed screaming into darkness and solid ground.

She lay there for a moment. Breathing. Stunned. Were all her limbs still there? Her thoughts, her heartbeat? iThat/i was still there, she knew that at least, thundering away in her chest and neck and ears so powerfully she could barely hear anything else. Liza's eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, but she couldn't see a thing. It was pitch-black.

Cautiously, she got to her feet, casting around for some source of light-anything. There was a sliver of brightness somewhere above her; she couldn't tell how far. Liza's best guess was that there was some kind of trapdoor up there-maybe a trapdoor version of a swinging door?-and she had fallen through. It had looked like a section of the ballroom could also have been a stage, so she decided the trapdoor was probably normal.

She noticed right away that her skin was covered with goop. A shiver ran down her spine as she dared to think, iWhat/i was ithat?/i

But that invited so many other questions, too. Where was she? How had she gotten here? How long had she been unconscious? The uncomfortable thought invaded her mind once again that she might have seriously hurt her head. Because there was no way any of this could possibly make sense in reality…

Liza's anxious thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from somewhere to her right. A sound that could only be described as islimy/i.

She almost stopped breathing. She was not alone.

Liza listened in absolute stillness, her breath coming faster and faster as that awful, slimy sound squelched closer. Desperately her eyes searched the dark for something to hold onto. Her racing mind churned out a hundred terrible possibilities per second, and they only got worse. iWhat if what if what if-/i She stopped herself, taking in a long, shuddering breath. iStop it, Liza. There's nothing there. It makes no sense, it can't be real…be rational, be rational, be rational-/i

Something warm and slimy brushed up against her leg.

Liza iscreamed/i. She stumbled backwards in the darkness, crashed into something metal, and fell over. Still screaming, she scuttled backwards on the dusty cement ground, sure the slimy thing was coming closer, closer…

It hit her then what an absolute wimp she was being. Just like that: iI'm being such a wimp./i For a moment, she was overwhelmed with that painful, familiar feeling of absolute disgust, so powerful it nearly took her breath away. iYou're just like a baby; you haven't changed at all-/i

iQuiet,/i Liza ordered the voice in her head. She took a deep breath, trying to push down the rising terror she felt, suffocating her. Ignoring the panic that was screaming for her to run away, Liza closed her eyes. iQuiet. What would England do?/i

Her fingers curled around the wig she held by her side. "You bloody git," she murmured. Her voice came out as little more than a whisper, shaky and entirely American. Gripping her hands into fists, she filled her lungs and yelled out in the best British accent she could muster: i"You bloody git!"/i

In response, an ugly squelch came from somewhere in front of her. Uncomfortably near. Liza climbed to her feet, gripping her deformed camera in one hand, wig in the other. Her breaths came fast and uneven in the darkness. Against all instinct, she took a step forward. "B-bloody git."

Her leg banged into some kind of dusty metal object, and she nearly shrieked but caught herself at the last moment. "Bloody git, bloody git, bloody git…" She knew it was silly, but something about that British accent made Liza feel safe. Strong. Like nothing could knock her down-because she wasn't Liza anymore, she was England, she was Arthur Kirkland, and she wasn't going to give in without a-

iSquelch./i

"Bloody git! Bloody git bloody git bloody git-" Before she even knew what she was doing she was bashing the slimy thing with the heavy camera, over and over and over. "Bloody git! Bloody igit/i! Bloody git bloody git gluddy bit gluddy-"

The chant dissolved into a wordless scream, garbled words streaming from her mouth as she attacked the thing with all her might. Finally, after an interminable time, the haze of panic lifted and she realized that the thing was not moving anymore-had not moved for a long time.

Liza stepped back, the scream dying in her throat. She stood there, panting, slime-covered camera dangling from her wrist as the creature lay limp and massive before her.

She couldn't be sure that it was dead. It probably was dead, but there was just a ichance/i, and who knew how many other monsters may be lurking in the darkness…

Shivering, Liza scanned the pitch-black ceiling until she found the line of light that she had noticed before. As carefully as she could, she made her way toward it, listening intently for any more ominous squelching sounds from the darkness. She managed to bump into another noisy metal object, which turned out to be a rusty folding chair-she pulled it over and used it to climb on top of and push the swinging trapdoor open.

Light flooded in, blinding her for the second time in under an hour. Liza blinked in the brightness, oddly relieved to find that she could still see. She put her hands on either side of the opening, preparing to pull herself out from that horrid place, but paused.

Cautiously, Liza bent down and dared a look at the creature. She found it lying several feet away, oozing among fallen chairs and scattered music stands: a giant, pale worm, at least six feet long and swelling up to the height of her waist in the middle. Liza could only stare for another moment before she shuddered and looked away.

She heaved herself out of the trapdoor. Liza clambered onto the stage and sat there for a moment, trying to make sense of this strange new world she seemed to have woken into. Glass and green goo from the first monster was scattered everywhere, reaching even as far as the back wall. Slime from the second covered her cosplay and camera. Speaking of which-Liza examined the strange black covering once again. Was it just her imagination, or had the little spikes grown just a bit longer?

She wanted to reject the idea as impossible right away, but this time, she stopped herself. iObviously things don't work the same in this weird new reality. Maybe it's time to accept that being realistic isn't the most logical option anymore./i She swallowed down the uncomfortable idea as if it were a pill, getting to her feet as she did so. She'd been in this ballroom long enough. No matter how scared she might be of what lay beyond those doors, she needed to leave.

Liza's attention was caught by the curtains on the side of the room, which suddenly seemed to be billowing more than usual. She watched, heart in her throat, as the lump moved toward the top. A long, spindly, hairy leg poked out-

iOh, hell./i Liza backed away, trying to make it to the door while staying as far away as possible from whatever that ithing/i was. But more and more legs were poking out, more than she wanted to count, and a great dark head appeared from the top of the curtains-eight giant eyes blinked at her above a set of vicious-looking pincers, and the giant spider began to crawl down the curtains straight toward her.

Liza stood paralyzed, too terrified to breathe. A scream was building in her throat but stayed locked behind her jaws, because the spider was moving terrifyingly fast. Legs jerking pincers clicking feet crawling. She blinked and it was on the wall. Blinked again and it had found the floor. Blinked again, and it had reached the chandelier, was crawling toward her-

Too terrified to think, Liza swung her camera at its face. It didn't even flinch. Still, she hit it again, and again, even as it loomed over her, ihissing/i. Oh, god, those empty black eyes, that hairy, evil face-it was like something out of a nightmare. She shuddered and clenched her teeth, swinging her camera desperately at its eyes, missing half the time in her fog of fear. As the spider lunged for her, she caught a glimpse of dripping fangs and screamed, stumbling out of the way. Pain slashed through her leg and her back as she crashed into the wall, but she barely registered it.

With one last, desperate effort, she swung her camera at its face. Missed. Her leg buckled beneath her and she collapsed to the floor. The acromantula was crawling toward her, its jittering legs making her want to throw up. She could feel its hair scratching against her skin.

She closed her eyes.


	9. Chapter 3: Love-Lost Elegy

Nina regained consciousness just as her back slammed into the wall behind her. She winced at the stinging pain and felt her body jolt in shock. Getting to her knees, she tried to rub the aching spot on her back with no avail. She placed the defeated hand on the carpeted floor and used it to push herself all the way back up. Her blue canvas bag lay abandoned a few feet away; Nina scampered over to retrieve it.

_Good, everything's in here, I think,_ she thought as she checked the bag's contents, _But, where am I?_

Nina had landed in a dark hallway of sorts, both ends unable to see farther than a dozen meters before being swallowed up by blackness. The only light source was the sad, orange glow of a lamp attached to the wall had she bumped into. No one was around, but the lonely light gave her warmth as if someone were there for her.

"Thanks for being here, Mr. Lamp." She smiled brightly at the inanimate object. Her thoughts danced through her mouth now that she was sure no one was around. "Do you know where I am? I seem to be lost!" She put her hands to her face in mock horror, waiting patiently for the lamp's response. The light from the bulb flickered momentarily. "Right, right, I don't remember coming here. So, I'm not lost, I'm-" Her mind slowly registered her next word. Voice rising in genuine surprise, she spoke questioningly, "kidnapped?!" She clasped both of her hands over her mouth.

Nina began to bounce back and forth between the tips of her toes, wildly looking left and right at the abysses around her, waiting for the perpetrator to suddenly appear. One of her hands ran free from her mouth and pointed accusingly at the lamp. "Are you the mastermind behind this, Mr. Lamp? How dare you betray me!" The lamp glowed nonchalantly. "How can I trust you anymore? I was kidnapped! Anyone could be the enemy, even you!"

When the lamp ignored her, Nina turned her head away with a little "hmph!" and curled herself into a ball on the floor. Her forehead laid on her knees, eyes staring down into space. She whispered, "Onii-chan's going to get angry again." _But I wasn't the one who got myself lost._ Letting out a sigh, she turned her head to watch the lamp's glow. "You're right, if I'm kidnapped, then he won't get angry at me." She continued to stare blankly at the light. "He won't get angry at me, but-" In panic far greater than finding out she was kidnapped, she immediately stood back up, back turned to the lamp.

"He won't let me come back to SmileCon!" Facing the lamp again, she said, "Mr. Lamp, I have to get back to him!" She thought about it for a second, _But he told me to stay put if I get lost..._ "But I'm not lost! I'm kidnapped!" Reaching out, she placed her hands around the warm glass encasing the light of the lamp. "Mr. Lamp, I can't let myself run right into the enemy's hands. I don't exactly trust you, but you're the only one I've got right now. Tell me," Shifting her gaze side to side, she asked, "right or left?"

A low rumbling sound arrived from the left side of the hallway. The ground trembled with increasing amplitude. "What-?" _What's happening?_ Nina quickly retrieved her bag. "You-what did you do, Mr. Lamp?" Without waiting for an answer, she swung around and dashed into the depths of the end of the hallway opposite to the grumbles coming ever closer.

Not daring to look back, though she doubted she could see anything in the darkness, Nina kept running, hoping for some sign that the hallway will end. _Darn it, wig._ The long twintails caught the air blowing past Nina, effectively holding her back. Although she had put some distance between her and the terrifying noise, Nina was already feeling dizzy. The air within her lungs trickled away with every breath she took. Gasping, she squeezed her eyes shut, as if that would prevent her diminishing supply of oxygen from slipping by her. Slower and slower Nina ran, white spots popping out whenever she opened her heavy eyes.

The rumbling was audible again, and Nina tried her best to keep going. _Why?_ The noise echoed around, enveloping her. _Why am I…_ She could hear individual footsteps now-there seemed to be three of them. _…running away?_

Suddenly, the hallway was illuminated once again. Nina shut her eyes, coming to a halt at a light that suddenly appeared. Peeking through her lids, she saw another lamp hanging on the wall. She gasped, "You again! Help-!" In another instant, five other lamps lit up consecutively around her, encircling her a flood of light. The first lamp changed from a lonesome orange to a fiery red. Four of the other lamps switched their colors, each unique in their choice.

_What?_ The piercing light was daunting-Nina hadn't had the time to adjust her vision. She threw her arms up to shelter her eyes. As she did, her bag swung along with them, and her possessions inside made all sorts of rustling noises. Quickly after, a metallic clatter sounded near her feet-something must've fallen out.

_Embiggen._

A strangely familiar voice whispered into Nina's ear. The metallic object rattled and lightly hit Nina on the ankles. Squinting, she looked down from her arms, surprised by what she saw.

Her handcrafted clock hand out of simple cardboard and foil somehow grew ten times larger than before. Not only that, it had a glint to it that made it seem genuinely made out of metal. Wasting not a second longer, Nina grabbed the end of the hand that seemed to be a handle. _Feels metallic too._

The three monsters crashed into view a moment later, hideously screeching. _What_ are _those?_ Nina tightened her grip on her only weapon. She had an instant to take a breath before the creatures lunged at her simultaneously. Forcing her eyes open, Nina scooted to her left and took aim at one of the creature's belly. The clock hand sliced cleanly across her target; its disgusting blood miraculously flew straight past her. The second take wasn't as friendly, and Nina narrowly dodged one of the surviving creature's fangs. Before it could spin around, she sliced through its furry body and the resulting blood caught on her white apron. The last one, furious at Nina for killing its comrades, charged at full speed towards her, claws and fangs bared. Its cry sliced through the air. Barely squinting, Nina whipped around and blindly swung the final blow. The clumsy swing made contact, hitting the creature's vital points, but didn't cleanly cut through. Quivering, the monster made its last feeble howl before it lay motionless.

Shivering, Nina gasped a few victory breaths before dropping to her knees. She took a glance at the last creature she killed and quickly turned back around, horrified. _I'm sorry. If only I had made a clean cut…_ She clenched her teeth, tears forming in her eyes. The howl was too painful to bare, echoing through the empty halls and filling her mind. Nina vaguely recognized the three monsters, each resembling a large baboon. _They're not baboons though. Baboons couldn't have run that fast or been that thirsty for blood._ Nina tried to identify the creatures. _They must've been… mutations?_ She gasped. _Muttations…_

The smell of blood was getting to her, so Nina got back on her feet and decided to keep heading right. _How could they be?_ She took one of the lamps from its hook on the wall, specifically the red one, to light the way. _Those don't exist…_ In the other hand, she grasped the clock hand that saved her. _...right?_

When the smell faded away, Nina slumped against the wall for a quick breather. In that time, she unclipped the two twintails from her wig and stashed them into her bag. She removed the short teal wig and wig cap underneath to reveal her golden copper hair. It reached to the middle of her back and would have been straight if it wasn't for the fact it was stuffed under a wig cap a second ago.

_Mr. Lamp, what have you gotten me into?_ She brought the dimly glowing lamp closer. _Am I dreaming? If so, what kind of dream am I dreaming? _Nina let out a long sigh._ This is strangely realistic. Even you seem to have actual presence. And this…_ She put her hand on the metallic weapon next to her. Closing her eyes, she let the sound of herself breathing surround her. _One, two, three, four…_ Her attempt to meditate was interrupted by her thundering heart and hazy mind. _No good, I'm panicking too much. Calm down. Calm down._

Nina searched through her canvas bag to see if there was anything that could help. To her relief, the plush she bought theoretically a couple hours ago was still there. She reached for it, grabbed it by the hand, and tried to pull it out. Unfortunately, it seemed to be stuck on something, so she pulled harder.

Something other than the doll flew out of the bag. The wire connecting the two objects detached from the second one, which flew a few meters away from Nina. A simple ding rang out. She held up the doll; a pair of earphones wrapped around its waist. The iPod connected to the other side was gone. _Oh no-_

Music blasted on full volume from the small device far away. _Why couldn't it have been "Last Night, Good Night"?_ To Nina's dismay, the song alerted some other fearsome creature, which was quickly heading her way from the same direction as the mutant baboons did. She hastily gathered all her belongings and shoved them into her bag; the lamp and weapon in either hand. Retrieving the music device, she tapped the pause button and tucked it safely in her apron pocket.

Running further and further, the tired-out Nina thought the hallway was endless. However, as if to mock her, she ran no more than a minute before she broke free into a wide open room. No doubt, she was still in the convention building. The rug, lights, and structure reminded her of the center where the fountain was.

All around the vast room were creatures Nina never knew existed. Some, however, she certainly recognized. With no time to stop and admire the monsters, she hurriedly scanned the room for an exit. The closest door to her appeared to lead into a room of much importance, but she had no time to ponder what it might be.

She made a beeline for it, caring little about all the monsters she tipped off along the way. Taking a peek behind her, she saw the initial monster that had chased after her. _A l-loose Chain Chomp?!_ Nina was glad she didn't choose to stay and fight it; there was no way her weapon could cut through metal.

The chaotic crowd behind her drew closer and closer. Nina dropped the lamp behind her to reach out a desperate hand towards the incoming door knob. A shattering sound informed her that Mr. Lamp was no more. _Thank you._ She regretted leaving it. _You were my first ally._ Eyes stinging, she sprinted the rest of the way and forced the heavy door open.

* * *

_"Love-Lost Elegy (Aimai Elegy)" by DECO*27 featuring Hatsune Miku_


End file.
